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Instead of sharing a new recipe with you today, I have some announcements to make about changes to Closet Cooking. Over the last few weeks I have been working on a handful of projects for Closet Cooking including writing my first ever eBook, moving over to a new email newsletter platform and a new logo for the Closet Cooking.

Free eBook

The one question that I get asked the most is "Are you writing a cookbook?" and although I would love to write one and will eventually write one, at this point in my life I simply do not have the time. Between dedicating 50 hours a weeks to my day job and and spending 50-70 hours a week on Closet Cooking, it is very difficult to find the time to write completely new recipes and then make and photograph them for a cookbook! But this does not lessen my desire to write a cookbook and this year one of my new years resolutions was to start taking steps in that direction. I decided that I would start with something a lot simpler than a full cookbook and a much smaller eBook seemed like the perfect way to go. Since I did not know much about writing a book let alone an eBook I thought it would be a good idea to start with a really easy one where I would use recipes and photographs that I already had. With these ideas in mind the eBook: The Best of Closet Cooking 2012, was born.

The Best of Closet Cooking 2012 is a collection of the most popular recipes that I have published on Closet Cooking from the time of its inception until 2012. For new readers, this book is a great way to get into some of the best recipes on Closet Cooking and for long time readers, it is a nice reminder of the tasty paths traveled. I will be giving the The Best of Closet Cooking 2012 away for free to anyone that signs up for my new newsletter. You can sign up here:

Subscribe to the Closet Cooking email newsletter:

Email:

The book is in pdf format so anyone on a desktop computer or laptop can view it in a pdf reader such as Adobe Reader and any smart phone or tablet device that has a pdf reader should be able to view it on those devices. I was able to transfer the book to my iPhone and despite the small size it looks pretty good. I now need to start saving up for an iPad so that I can see how it looks on that! I am also going to look into getting the book up on Amazon for the kindle, iTunes and Lulu for a physical print in the coming days.

It turns out that there is a fair bit of work involved in publishing a cookbook even when you already have all of the recipes, text and photos ready to go! I was somehow able to muddle my way through it all and despite the difficulties that I encountered along the way, I was able to produce something that looks a little like a cookbook. :) With the first eBook written I am looking forward to the next one and I am already part way through planning it. (Can you guess the topic of my next eBook?) I would love to hear your thoughts on this eBook, both the things that you like and dislike about it.

If anyone is or knows someone that is good at design and book layout, I am interested in hiring someone to do the layout of my next eBook. Please email me at kevin@closetcooking.com if you do!

New Newsletter

When I started Closet Cooking I had no idea that I would still be at it almost 6 years later and because of that I went with the cheapest options possible including using blogger for the blog and using feedburner to deliver the email updates. Feedburner is a great free option for delivering email updates but it does not allow for much in the way of customization and lately I have been wanting to do more with Closet Cooking email. I have been thinking about switching to a platform that allows more freedom for a long time now and I finally decided to switch over to AWeber and with them I will have more control of my email updates.

(Disclaimer: The AWeber link is an affiliate link so if you sign up with them after clicking the link I may get a commission. If you do, I thank you for your support!)

Another limitation of feedburner is that it only send email when you write a new post, which is not the end of the world but sometimes you have something to say that does not really fit into a new post. AWeber has the ability to send email whenever you want and since I am a big fan of eating locally and in season and I plan to use this feature to highlight favorite recipes that are in season.

What does this mean? If you are currently subscribed to my feedburner email newsletter you will continue to get the new recipes emailed to your inbox just like you have. If you would prefer to switch to the new newsletter, you can unsubscribe from the one that you are getting now and subscribe to the new one and of course you will also get access to my new eBook if you do. You can subscribe here:

Subscribe to the Closet Cooking email newsletter:

Email:

I would love to here any feedback that you have on the new newsletter!

New Logo

The next big announcement is about my new logo! A few weeks ago, Cory, a food blogging friend of mine, the man behind Zesty Cooks, contacted me to let me know that he had quit his job to focus on his own blog consulting business Zesty Blog Consulting and he wanted to know if I wanted a custom logo for Closet Cooking. It was quite the coincidence since I had been thinking about a logo for a while so I happily said yes!

(Disclaimer: The link to Zesty Blog Consulting is an affiliate link so if you purchase his services after clicking the link I may get a commission. If you do, I thank you for your support!)

Although I was not the easiest client to work with, given that I had no clue what I wanted other than something that was cool, Cory persevered and after more than a few iterations came up with a logo that I liked! I had been thinking about the logo for a long time and the thing that kept blocking me was: What kind of a logo can you come up with to represent a closet and cooking? The answer was that a more abstract logo was the way to go. I would love to hear your opinion of the new logo! Please leave a comment!

Does this recipe look tasty?

Never miss a new recipe! Subscribe to the newsletter and get a free copy of the eBook: The Best of Closet Cooking!

I'm a fairly new subscriber, but excited to hear about those changes. I also look forward to the eBook!! Your recipes are always re-pinned when I pin them on Pinterest. I like the logo too; simple yet snazzy at the same time.

Hi Kevin, I don't think I've ever posted a comment on your site before but I've been a long-time fan and have been inspired many times and for many years by your recipes. Congratulations on all the new projects, I look forward to watching Closet Cooking grow!

Very exciting news! Looking forward to seeing the ebook. I am still amazed at the size of you kitchen, from the photos that were in your interview post! That makes you cooking more impressive!And the nice logo is nice too!

Hi Kevin. I've been following your blog for years now, but just wanted to say thanks for all your hard work. Even when I don't make the recipes, I get so much enjoyment and inspiration from seeing the recipes and photos. I can't believe you have time to do all this and have a proper day job as well. Out of curiosity I went back through the archives to look at your first posts and the difference in the photograph quality is amazing. The blog's really grown and I'm excited to see what you do next. Thanks again for all your hard work.

Congratulations!! I came across your blog a few years ago when I was trying to prove to my husband that apple chutneys didn't exist... Clearly, I was wrong! Thank you for the wonderful recipes and cooking inspirations!

Thanks for the ebook. I like it a lot. I also subscribed. What a nice logo, such a change. Incredible that you have been blogging as long as I have been blogging. We survived :) Long life to Closet Cooking Kevin.

Charlie: The feedburner account will remain active and continue sending updates. Anyone that wishes can subscribe to the new newsletter and click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the feedburner newsletter.

Kevin,I love the changes, I am inspired to do something similar for my blog as far as the newsletter goes. WAY BETTER THAN FEEDBURNER, which is what I also use. Was it easy to transfer your contact list? I am seriously going to look into this so you might get a commission off me there! lolI also like your new logo, looks great. Keep up the great job here. I have even more appreciation knowing that like myself, you work 50 hours at another job and 30-50 hrs maintaining a food blog. Bravo!

Kristi: Transferring the email list is challenging. Most email services like Aweber require a double opt in so if you import the list, they will send each subscriber an email asking them to click on a link to confirm the subscription. I wanted to have as little impact on my current email subscribers as possible so I decided to keep the feedburner service going and offer the subscribers the opportunity to move over to the new one, but to not force them.

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About Me

I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.